Target towing device



y 1964 R. P. JENSEN ETAL 3,140, 7

TARGET TOWING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 30, 1961 Inventors: Robert P. Jensen Ln C M/m WWW m mm y 1964 R. P. JENSEN ETAL 3,140,374

TARGET TOWING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

Filed Aug. 30, 1961 nu S m m WQ d t n w @D m Fig. 6

July 14, 1964 R. P. JENSEN ETAL 3,140,374

TARGET TOWING DEVICE Filed Aug. 30, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I lllllllll IllllllIllllllllllllllll} V 51. Inventors:

Fig. 10 RQbert P Jensen Don W. Sacke:

Attorneg United States Patent 3,140,874 TARGET TOWING DEVICE Robert P. Jensen, 115 W. Rose SL, and Donald W. Sackett, 323 Selby St, both of Owatonna, Minn. Filed Aug. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 134,902 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-1052) This invention relates broadly to a target carrier for use in target shooting with small arms and archery tackle and more particularly, to a device to impart movement to a conventional target of paper, wood, metal or any other suitable material along a defined course in target shooting of the types described.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a target towing device capable of imparting movement to a target of the conventional type supported thereby in the practice of marksmanship by small arms and archery shooters.

A further object of this invention is to provide a target towing device that is self-propelled and capable of towing a conventional target supported thereby along a defined course.

A further object of this invention is to provide a target towing device that is self-propelled and automatically reversible to travel continuously in opposite directions along a defined course of any length at regulated speed until manually turned ofi.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a target towing device that is self-propelled and automati cally reversible along a defined course indoors or out doors that is quickly and easily set up in conjunction with an appropriate backstop by the simple expedient of erecting a pair of spaced supporting posts or by the use of spaced supporting means such as trees, building and the like to define the course of travel.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application and in which drawings, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the following devices and combination of de vices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention and its supporting means.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the carrier unit.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the same, some parts being broken away and sectioned.

FIG. 4 is an end elevational View of the carrier unit as shown in FIG. 3 taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, some parts thereof being sectioned.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the carrier unit as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic wiring diagram for the carrier unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a modification of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of said modification taken on the line 88 of FIG. 9, some parts being broken away and sectioned.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the same; and

FIG. 10 is an end elevational view of the carrier unit as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, some parts being broken away and sectioned.

The numeral 11 is directed to a pair of parallel cords that may be of rope, wire or braided cable that are stretched between spaced supporting means, not shown, and held taut by means of a pair of turnbuckles 12. These cords 11 are held in laterally spaced parallel arrangement by means of a pair of spacer plates 13 that EJ 10814 Patented July 14, 1964 are mounted on the cords 11 and also serve as stop plates for the carrier unit as will presently appear. It will be understood that the cords 11 may extend between a pair of buildings, trees, a tree and a building and/or between a pair of posts that are erected and strategically positioned for the purpose. It has not been thought necessary however, to illustrate any of the aforesaid supporting means on the drawings.

A powered carrier unit 14 is constructed and arranged to traverse the space cords 11 and is displaceably supported thereon by means of a pair of driven grooved wheels 15. These grooved wheels 15 are mounted for rotation on a transversely disposed shaft 16 that is journaled in bearings 17 that are mounted in a box-like casing 18 that forms a housing for the entire carrier unit 14. A relatively large spur gear 19 is mounted on the shaft 16 for external meshing engagement with a small spur gear 20 that is mounted on the armature shaft 21 of a small D.C. electric motor 22 that is powered by a pair of standard flashlight batteries 23. The said electric motor 22 is mounted on a contact plate 24 that is transversely mounted within the casing 18 and acts as a divider between the battery housing and the motor housing. The batteries 23 are held securely positioned in their housing by means of a spring contact clip 25. It may be well to state at this point that in actual manufacturing practice the bottom cover member 26 of the casing 18 will be hinged to give easy access to the battery housing and that the spring contact clip 25 will be secured within said cover member 26. Said cover member will have a close working frictional fit with the casing 18 and a suitable latch member will be provided to further secure the said cover member 26 to said casing 18.

A switch mechanism including an off and on switch 27 and a reversing switch 27 is mounted within the motor housing and the olf and on switch 27 is provided with a switch lever 28 that extends outwardly through an aperture in the top of the casing 18 for manual manipulation to energize or stop the electric motor 22. A plunger 29 cooperates with the reversing switch mechanism 27' to reverse the flow of the DC. current from the batteries 23 to the electric motor 22 thereby reversing the direction of rotation of the armature shaft 21 of the said electric motor 22. The said plunger 29 is constructed and arranged to extend through apertures in the respective sides of the casing 18 and engages to spacer and stop plate 13 at the terminal ends of the cords 11 as the carrier unit 14 completes its travel in one direction. The engagement of the plunger 29 with the stop plate 13 will thus automatically reverse the direction of travel of the carrier unit 14 on the said cords 11. This plunger 29 is spring loaded and connected to a small actuating lever 30 on the reversing switch mechanism 27 to actuate the mechanism of said reversing switch 27'.

Attached to the bottom cover member 26 is a bracket 31 from which are suspended a pair of rods 32. The end portions of the bracket 31 are bent to form hooks 33, the said hooks in the upper end portion of the rods 32 being bent and arranged to engage apertures 34 in the bracket 31 and the hooks 33 in the lower end portions of said rods 32 being bent and arranged to engage the upper edge portions of a conventional target 35. Obviously, there are numerous mechanical expedients by which the said target 35 can be attached to the rods 32 and the carrier unit 14.

From the foregoing it will be understood that to operate the invention it is only necessary to stretch the cords 11 between two supporting structures, trees, or posts with a spacer and stop plate 13 at each terminal end thereof. The turnbuckles 12 are used to draw the cords 11 taut. The carrier unit 14 is then placed on the cords 11 with a grooved wheel resting on each cord with the casing 18 depending therefrom between said cords 11. A target 35 is suspended from the rods 32 and the carrier unit 14 set in motion by closing the off and on switch 27 by move rnent of the switch lever 23. When this motion of the carrier unit 14 has propelled the unit to one terminal end of the cords ll'the plunger 29 of the reversing switch 27 will engage the spacer stop plate 13 automatically, actuate the said reversing switch 27 and reverse the direction of rotation of the driven grooved wheels 15 and similarly the direction of travel of the carrier unit 14 on the cords 11 until the said unit reaches the other terminal end of the cords 11 where the plunger 29 will engage the spacer stop plate 13 on theother terminal end of the cords 11 where the direction of travel will again be reversed by the engagement of the plunger 29 and the other spacer'stop plate actuating the reversing switch 27. In this manner the invention will present a moving target to the shooter and thus simulate certain game shooting The unit will continue to traverse the defined course continuously at a regulated speed until stopped by actuating the switch lever 28 of the off and on switch 27.

Obviously in the interest of shooting safety it is -a foregone conclusion that the above described device will always be installed for operation with a suitable backstop whether for indoor or outdoor use and operation.

Referring now to the modification shown in FIGS. 7,

8, 9 and 10 of the drawings the basic features of the in- Y vention remain the same except for the embodiment of a single cord 11 and the resultant need for only a single grooved wheel 15' and an aperture in each side portion of the casing 18 to permit the passage of the single cord 11' therethrough into engagement with the single grooved wheel 15' whereby the carrier unit 14 is supported for travel between the terminal ends of the cord 11.

In the interest of brevity and clarity the identical reference numerals with an added prime have been used to identify the several elements of the modifications shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Whilethere are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, it is possible to produce still other embodiments without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore, that'only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims and are stated herein or required by the prior'art.

What we claim is:

1. A device for towing a target for small arms and archery target shooters, comprising in combination, a pair of laterally spaced, parallel cords stretched taut between two opposite points, and'a stop platetmounted on r' said parallel cords at each terminal end thereof, said stop plates further affording means to hold the said pair of' parallel cords in laterally spaced relation, a self-propelled carrier unit comprising a casing and a pair of grooved wheels constructed and arranged to travel on the parallel cords, said grooved wheels being mounted externally of said casing, extensions of a shaft journaled in said casing for common rotation therewith, and a large gear mounted on said shaft within the casing for common rotation therewith, an electric motor mounted within said casing and a small gear mounted on the armature shaft of the electric :1 motor and having meshing engagement with the said large gear to thereby drive the shaft and the mounted grooved wheels of said casing, a pair of flashlight batteries mounted in the casing to energize the electric motor, switch means to open and close the electric circuit to said electric motor to manually stop andvstart the same and a reversing switch having means'extending externally of the casing'to engage the stop plates mounted on the parallel cords and reverse the flow of electrical current to the electric motor and the direction of travel'of the carrier unit on the parallel cords by reversing the direction of rotation of the electric motor.

2. The structure of claim 1 further including means secured to the carrier unit enabling a target to be detachably secured thereto.

3. A device for towing a target for small arms and archery target shooters, comprising in combination, a pair of laterally spaced parallel cords stretched taut between two indeterminate opposite points, a spacer stop plate mounted on said spaced parallel cords at each terminal end portion thereof to hold said cords in laterally spaced parallel relation, a self-propelled carrier unit comprising a casing havingra contactplate dividing the said easing into an upper housing and a lower housing, a pair of grooved wheels constructed to travel onsaid parallel cords, said grooved wheels being mounted externally of saidcasingon extensions ofra shaft journaled in said casing, said grooved wheels and the shaft being mounted for common rotation, a large spur gear rigidly mounted on the shaft within the casingandan electric motor mounted in the upper housing of the casing on the contact plate,

a small spur gear rigidly mounted on thelarmature shaft of the electric motor and having meshing engagement with the large spurgear mounted on the shaft, a pair of flashlight batteries-mounted in the lower housing of the casing to energize the electric motor and impart movement to the same as the grooved wheels are rotatedwhen in engagement with the pair of parallel cords, off and on switch means on the carrier unit to manually open or close the electrical circuit from the batteries to the electric motor and a reversing switch having externally projecting actuatingmeans for engagement with the spacer stop plates mounted at the respective terminal end portions of the parallel cords whereby when the moving carrier unit engages one stop plate on the parallel cords by theactuatingmeans .of the reversing switch the flow ofrelectrical current from the batteries is reversed causing thedirection of the rotation of the armature shaft of the electric motor to be reversed and similarly the direction of travel of the carrier unit on the parallel cords to its engagement with the spacer stop plate on the other terminal end thereof where it is again reversed by the actuating of the reversing switch tolthus impart continuous travel of the carrier unit in opposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A DEVICE FOR TOWING A TARGET FOR SMALL ARMS AND ARCHERY TARGET SHOOTERS, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED, PARALLEL CORDS STRETCHED TAUT BETWEEN TWO OPPOSITE POINTS, AND A STOP PLATE MOUNTED ON SAID PARALLEL CORDS AT EACH TERMINAL END THEREOF, SAID STOP PLATES FURTHER AFFORDING MEANS TO HOLD THE SAID PAIR OF PARALLEL CORDS IN LATERALLY SPACED RELATION, A SELF-PROPELLED CARRIER UNIT COMPRISING A CASING AND A PAIR OF GROOVED WHEELS CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO TRAVEL ON THE PARALLEL CORDS, SAID GROOVED WHEELS BEING MOUNTED EXTERNALLY OF SAID CASING, EXTENSIONS OF A SHAFT JOURNALED IN SAID CASING FOR COMMON ROTATION THEREWITH, AND A LARGE GEAR MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT WITHIN THE CASING FOR COMMON ROTATION THEREWITH, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CASING AND A SMALL GEAR MOUNTED ON THE ARMATURE SHAFT OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR AND HAVING MESHING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SAID LARGE GEAR TO THEREBY DRIVE THE SHAFT AND THE MOUNTED GROOVED WHEELS OF SAID CASING, A PAIR OF FLASHLIGHT BATTERIES MOUNTED IN THE CASING TO ENERGIZE THE ELECTRIC MOTOR, SWITCH MEANS TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT TO SAID ELECTRIC MOTOR TO MANUALLY STOP AND START THE SAME AND A REVERSING SWITCH HAVING MEANS EXTENDING EXTERNALLY OF THE CASING TO ENGAGE THE STOP PLATES MOUNTED ON THE PARALLEL CORDS AND REVERSE THE FLOW OF ELECTRICAL CURRENT TO THE ELECTRIC MOTOR AND THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE CARRIER UNIT ON THE PARALLEL CORDS BY REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR. 